News from February 2017

Geneticists solve a decades-long puzzle about how genes are turned on to make cellular proteins

January 27, 2017

DNA sequence signal for the activation of human genes. Each tiny human cell contains about six feet of DNA, a double-helical molecular chain containing four types of several billion chemical nucleotides — adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T) — arranged in a specific sequence, or code, that when transcribed guide the cell into producing specific proteins. (credit: University of California — San Diego)

Wearable sensors can alert you when you are getting sick, Stanford study shows

January 18, 2017

Current versions of three of the devices used for heart-rate and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation measurements in the study (credits left to right: Scanadu, iHealth, and Masimo)

Fitness monitors and other wearable biosensors can tell when your heart rate, activity, skin temperature, and other measures are abnormal, suggesting possible illness, including the onset of infection, inflammation, and even insulin resistance, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.